BAKER CITY HERALD • THuRsDAY, JunE 30, 2022 A5
LOCAL & STATE
‘Biblical’ insect swarms spur
Oregon push to fight pests
BY CLAIRE RUSH
Associated Press/Report for America
Oregon Public Broadcasting/Contributed Photo
Students walk on the Eastern Oregon University campus during the 2021 fall term.
Eastern Oregon colleges agree to
strategic plan to close equity gaps
public universities and community colleges
LA GRANDE — A collaboration between
to embrace innovation and focus on working
three Eastern Oregon schools aims to close eq-
smarter across education sectors to support
uity gaps for Eastern Oregon students at two-
students through every stage of education. The
and four-year colleges and universities by 2030. $1.6 million will be funded with federal Gov-
Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday, June
ernor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund dol-
27, an investment of $1.6 million for
lars, which are reserved for allocations
Blue Mountain Community College,
by governors through the Coronavirus
Treasure Valley Community Col-
Response and Relief Supplemental Ap-
lege and Eastern Oregon University
propriations Act.
to launch an initiative called “Moon
“This initial investment is a critical
Shot for Equity.” The three schools
first step to launching this five-year
will work together as part of a five-
initiative,” Eastern Oregon University
year, student-centered comprehensive
President Tom Insko said. “Together,
Browning
strategic plan to identify and remove
I believe we can reshape the future of
systemic barriers that are preventing
post-secondary education in eastern
access and attainment to a post-sec-
Oregon, which means eliminating the
ondary education degree.
equity gap and making sure all stu-
BMCC President Mark Browning
dents reach their attainment goals in
said open and equitable access is what
less time and money and set the path
the Pendleton-based institution strives
to better career outcomes.”
for.
The Eastern Oregon University
“We are excited about how Moon
Board of Trustees convened via Zoom
Shot for Equity can help us reach those Brown
for a special meeting on June 27 to au-
goals and deliver even greater success
thorize Insko to enter into a contract
for students,” he said.
with educational consulting firm EAB
“Every student in Oregon, no matter who
Global Inc. Board authorization is required be-
they are or where they come from, deserves
cause the contract exceeds $1 million.
equitable access to higher education,” Brown
EAB Global launched the Moon Shot project
said in a press release announcing the initia-
in the fall of 2020 with a focus on removing sys-
tive. “We must invest and innovate to break
temic barriers to graduation among first-gener-
down the barriers that have kept too many Or- ation students as well as students of color.
egonians from succeeding in higher education.
“Our work with this new cohort of insti-
This initial investment is just the start of a pro- tutions in Eastern Oregon adds a new focus
gram to deliver lasting and meaningful change around bridging the rural versus urban divide
this year and in years to come. Every person in that too often leaves students from more re-
Eastern Oregon — and throughout the state
mote areas with reduced access to higher ed-
— should be able to attend college and earn a
ucation,” EAB Vice President of Partnerships
degree.”
Tom Sugar said, “and all of the opportunities
The initiative is part of Brown’s work with
that go along with that.”
EAST OREGONIAN
ARLINGTON — Driving
down a windy canyon road
in northern Oregon range-
land, Jordan Maley and April
Aamodt are on the look out
for Mormon crickets, giant
insects that can ravage crops.
“There’s one right there,”
Aamodt says.
They’re not hard to spot.
The insects, which can grow
larger than 2 inches, blot the
asphalt.
Mormon crickets are not
new to Oregon. Native to
western North America,
their name dates back to the
1800s, when they ruined the
fields of Mormon settlers in
Utah. But amidst drought
and warming temperatures
— conditions favored by the
insects — outbreaks across
the West have worsened.
The Oregon Legislature
last year allocated $5 million
to assess the problem and set
up a Mormon cricket and
grasshopper “suppression”
program. An additional $1.2
million for the program was
approved earlier this month.
It’s part of a larger effort by
state and federal authorities
in the U.S. West to deal with
an explosion of grasshop-
pers and Mormon crickets
that has hit from Montana to
Nevada. But some environ-
mental groups oppose the
programs, which rely on the
aerial spraying of pesticides
across large swaths of land.
Maley, an Oregon State
University Extension Agent,
and Aamodt, a resident of
the small Columbia River
town of Arlington, are both
involved in Mormon cricket
outreach and surveying ef-
forts in the area.
In 2017, Arlington saw its
largest Mormon cricket out-
break since the 1940s. The
roads were “greasy” with
the squashed entrails of the
huge insects, which damaged
nearby wheat crops.
Rancher Skye Krebs said
the outbreaks have been
“truly biblical.”
“On the highways, once
you get them killed, then the
rest of them come,” he ex-
plained. Mormon crickets are
cannibalistic and will feast on
each other, dead or alive, if
not satiated with protein.
The insects, which are
not true crickets but shield-
backed katydids, are flight-
less. But they can travel at
least a quarter of a mile in a
day, according to Maley.
Aamodt fought the 2017
outbreak with what she had
on hand.
“I got the lawnmower out
and I started mowing them
and killing them,” she said.
“I took a straight hoe and I’d
stab them.”
Aamodt has organized
volunteers to tackle the infes-
tation and earned the nick-
name “cricket queen.”
Another infestation last
year had local officials
“scrambling,” Maley said.
“We had all those high-
value crops and irrigation
circles,” he explained. “We
just had to do what we could
to keep them from getting
into that.”
In 2021 alone, Oregon ag-
ricultural officials estimate 10
million acres of rangeland in
18 counties were damaged by
grasshoppers and Mormon
crickets.
Under the new Oregon
initiative, private landown-
ers like farmers and ranch-
ers can request the Oregon
Department of Agriculture
(ODA) survey their land. If
ODA finds more than three
Mormon crickets or eight
grasshoppers per square yard
it will recommend chemi-
cal treatment. In some ar-
eas near Arlington surveyed
in May soon after the hatch
there were 201 Mormon
crickets per square yard.
State officials recommend
the aerial application of di-
flubenzuron. The insecticide
works by inhibiting devel-
opment, preventing nymphs
from growing into adults.
Landowners can be reim-
bursed for up to 75% of the
cost.
Diana Fillmore is a
rancher participating in the
new cost-sharing initiative.
She says “the ground is just
crawling with grasshoppers”
on her property.
ODA recommended she
treat her 988-acre ranch in
Arock in southeastern Ore-
gon. As the program’s pro-
tocol calls for applying in-
secticide to only half the
proposed area, alternately
targeting swaths then skip-
ping the next one, this means
nearly 500 acres of her land
will actually be sprayed.
Fillmore decided to act, re-
membering last year’s damage.
“It was horrible,” Fillmore
said. “Grasshoppers just totally
wiped out some of our fields.”
She was forced to spend
$45,000 on hay she normally
wouldn’t have to buy.
Todd Adams, an entomol-
ogist and ODA’s Eastern Or-
egon field office and grass-
hopper program coordinator,
said as of mid-June ODA
had received 122 survey re-
quests and sent out 31 treat-
ment recommendations for
roughly 40,000 acres.
Landowners must act
quickly if they decide to
spray diflubenzuron as it
is only effective against
nymphs.
“Once they become adults
it’s too late,” Adams said.
$7,000
Over
in cash prizes
every weekend in July!
Seven lucky winners pick a case of cash!
Drawings Fridays & Saturdays
Every 30 minutes, 6–9pm
GRAND PRIZE DRAWING
Win up to
$10,000 CASH!
roll the dice and
multiply your win up to 4X!
Sunday, July 31, 9pm
WOMEN WITH GAME
Join us on the greens of one of
America’s top casino golf courses to
watch future stars of the LPGA!
W I L D H 26th
ORS
E 26 | A
NN
UA
L
Wildhorse
annual
July
1–3,
2022
TH
August 29–September 4
Enjoy dancing, drumming,
food, vendors and MORE!
Over $90,000 in
CASH & PRIZES
for contestants.
BUY TICKETS TODAY
Visit wildhorseresort.com
or scan here:
Host Drum:
SOUTHERN STYLE, Montezuma Creek, UT
Free and open to the public.
For more information visit wildhorseresort.com
CASINO • HOTEL • GOLF • CINEPLEX • RV
MUSEUM • DINING • TRAVEL PLAZA • FUNPLEX
®
800.654.9453 • PENDLETON, OR • I-84, EXIT 216 • wildhorseresort.com • Owned and operated by CTUIR
Management reserves all rights to alter, suspend or withdraw promotions/offers at any time.
CAT11672-2